SobiTo be loved is a strength. To love is a weakness.Article ContributorArticle Contributor

Hello, and welcome to Campfire Talk! This article series will provide you with various opinions of Pokémon from Pokémon Sun and Moon, ranging from the starters to the legendaries. Let's meet our panelists, E.T, pokemonnerd, Annoying Orange, and Spoovo the Pirate! Today, they're going to be talking about the Ultra Beasts Buzzwole, Nihilego, and Pheromosa. We'll cover the remaining ones in the next article. Let's see what they have to say!

E.T.
Buzzwole

Buzzwole is a buff bug with base 137 Attack and base 137 Defense, and I like it for somewhat making Leech Life relevant. Competitively, it seems to have a very bad case of four-moveslot syndrome. Bug / Fighting typing isn't great offensively due to shared resistances to Poison, Flying, and Fairy. Buzzwole does have a few coverage options to hit these types, such as Earthquake, Ice Punch, and Poison Jab, but every time I've used Buzzwole, it seems like I never have the move that I need the most. I don't have much to say about Buzzwole in regards to in-game play because I've only played Moon.

Nihilego

Out of the three Ultra Beasts being discussed, Nihilego is the one that I am least familiar with because I haven't gotten around to using it yet. I think that its unique Rock and Poison typing is probably its most interesting quality. Also, it's always nice to add another name to the list of Pokémon that can set up Stealth Rock and remove hazards (via Rapid Spin, in this case). As for Nihilego's appearance, it looks very similar to the in-game character named Lillie, but it was disappointing that the game never really explained the reason for this (if it did, I just missed it).

Pheromosa

Pheromosa is the best Ultra Beast. With base 137 Attack, base 137 Special Attack, and base 151 Speed, and a movepool that includes High Jump Kick, Quiver Dance, Focus Blast, U-turn, Ice Beam, and Poison Jab, it can be threatening physically or specially, and it can be difficult to revenge kill due to its high Speed. It is also one of the best users of Beast Boost, as it could potentially benefit from a boost in Attack, Special Attack, or Speed, depending on its set. In-game, Pheromosa's Ultra Beast encounter somewhat annoyed me because there were four of them. On the plus side, there were more for trading, but it made obtaining a Pheromosa seem less special. Similarly to Nihilego resembling Lillie, Pheromosa resembles Lusamine, but the game doesn't ever explain the reason for this. It makes me wonder if Ultra Beasts were originally going to be more involved with the plot, but it ended up being cut out of the game.

pokemonnerd
Buzzwole

Ah yes, what you get when you splice Heracross with Larry the Lobster from Spongebob. I love this thing like many others for how over the top ridiculous it is. Most Ultra Beasts take their designs to the extremes of what their typings normally entail, and this super buff bug is no different. Take it to the gym and watch it spot you with the tip of its fingernails or wow your friends by benchpressing literally every weight possible you can find in the place.

It seems to have found its place as a Bulk Up sweeper or a Choice user with its spectacular physical stats, and since it's pretty much Heracross but buffer, this isn't surprising. Kind of straightforward, which is boring to discuss, but good Pokémon are good, and Buzzwole is great for what its stats are built for.

Nihilego

Nihilego was a pretty cool idea for a Pokémon. I really wished that we were able to confirm if this is how all Nihilego look naturally or if it can alter its shape. It would be pretty sweet and the ultimate infiltrator if it could alter itself to look vaguely like an important person to someone; I like to think this plus its neurotoxin was what influenced Lusamine so easily in Sun and Moon's plot.

Its competitive applications seem limited by its typing. Rock / Poison typing is interesting but opens up too many common weaknesses, least of which is a 4x weakness to Ground and 2x to the common Water type. We'll see how it does in lower tiers later on.

Pheromosa

Pheremosa is interesting. It was pretty surprising how it had at least a small likeness of Lusamine yet it didn't have a place in the story proper. I'm not overly fond of its design; however, it at least looks like it would be lightning fast while barely being able to take some hits.

I wonder how it actually does in Ubers. Don't know anything about the metagame so can't really speculate like the other two without taking it for a spin.

Annoying Orange
Buzzwole

Buzzwole was one of those Pokémon that everyone freaked out over when it was revealed. You kinda just knew it was going to be a bulky physical powerhouse. Many people predicted it to be an Electric-type thanks to its misleading screenshot leaks via Coro-Coro. I love Buzzwole as well because it's a huge, scary Pokémon. It's designed after a fly/mosquito and a bodybuilder, which I think no-one ever saw coming from Pokémon. It also gets a great movepool alongside the amazing Beast Boost ability. This Pokemon made Leech Life get a buff, thus making it a viable move. Did anyone see that coming either? Its design is probably one of my favorites too. It has a somewhat transparent body and four weird legs and a long proboscis, which makes it look really scary, not to mention the GAINS.

Nihilego

Nihilego has to be one of my favorite Pokémon introduced in Sun and Moon. It has a very unique look that some would say is weird. I think it's quite cute but mischievous as well. People often confuse it for being designed after Lillie, but what I'm sure really happened is Lusamine's obsession with Nihilego made her style Lillie after it. As you know, it has a very unique type along with a very versatile movepool. Its movepool along with Beast Boost makes it an often underrated threat in competitive battling. It's pretty fast and has great specially offensive and defensive stats. Pairing that with Beast Boost makes this cute little alien seem more of what it actually is, an Ultra Beast.

Pheromosa

When we seen Pheromosa and Buzzwole, most of us were drawn more to Buzzwole because it looked huge and powerful. Pheromosa, which I think Lusamine styled herself after, proved to be the biggest threat to competitive Pokémon as Lusamine was to Alola. Pheromosa is the embodiment of looks may deceive you. It's known as the Beauty Ultra Beast but it's actually one of the scariest offensive Pokémon to exist. Yes, a gust of wind will knock Pheromosa out, but the only problem is that Pheromosa is most likely going to outspeed the wind. Another incident of Pokémon pulling the unexpected happens with Pheromosa as well. Did we ever expect a beautiful cockroach with legs most of us would kill for? Pheromosa, like Buzzwole is a Bug / Fighting Pokémon and as we already knew from Heracross, this is a great offensive typing. However, Pheromosa can be physically or specially offensive and has a movepool that has trainers breaking a sweat. Pairing that with its amazing Speed stat and having Beast Boost to possibly boost one of its sky-scraping stats proved Pheromosa was just too much for us to handle.

Spoovo the Pirate
Buzzwole

Of all the Ultra Beasts, Buzzwole is the one I like most by quite a distance. While competitively speaking, it's probably one of the worst; unlike most of the others, it looks so much more like an actual Pokémon, which is why we all play these games in the first place. With its weird base stats and incredible movepool, it can be extremely versatile, something every good Pokémon needs. Not the best, but certainly one of the most fun.

Nihilego

Much like Buzzwole, spoopy jellyfish here excels more at being fun to play around with than actually use seriously, at least in my eyes. It also has strange base stats, but with its unique typing and very niche movepool, it can slot itself onto almost any team. Just don't let it near any Ground-types, and try not to let it eat you.

Pheromosa

Ahh yes, Pheromosa. Probably the most overrated of all the Ultra Beasts, it at least resembles a living creature, and is still acceptable as a Pokémon. And while there's no doubt about how overrated this creature is, there's also no doubt that it has earned this infamy. With its absolutely insane offensive presence and completely random movepool, it has every right to be marooned up in the Uber tier.

Out of the three Ultra Beasts being discussed, Nihilego is the one that I am least familiar with because I haven't gotten around to using it yet. I think that its unique Rock and Poison typing is probably its most interesting quality. Also, it's always nice to add another name to the list of Pokémon that can set up Stealth Rock and remove hazards (via Rapid Spin, in this case).